Blasting Complaints Back To Panel

PEMBROKE PINES - — It's been seven months since Susan Goldberg received a letter from city mediators stating that cracks in her kitchen tile caused by blasting would soon be fixed.

A mediation hearing and one class-action lawsuit later, the cracks are still there.

"It's been very frustrating," said Goldberg, 37, who said she cannot afford the estimated $2,252 repair bill. "I feel that the city of Pembroke Pines left us hanging on this."

Frustrated or not, Goldberg and hundreds of city residents claiming damages from blasting will have to return to a mediation process many say failed to work in the past.

On Monday, Broward Circuit Judge John Luzzo dismissed a class-action lawsuit brought by members of the Citizens Group for Good Government. The judge said mediation by a city panel was still an option. Despite the skepticism of residents, attorneys for both the homeowners and for the developers said they welcomed the judge's ruling. Both sides will ask the city to reconvene the mediation panel, which the City Commission disbanded shortly after the lawsuit was filed.

"We're hoping that the city will improve the mediation process. Now they know we're not going away. And I think we've gotten the developers' attention," said Ervin A. Gonzalez, an attorney who represents homeowners.

If the mediation process fails, however, Gonzalez promised a return to court.

An attorney representing the developers said that the dismissal of the lawsuit will now allow the claims to be settled more quickly.

"This is a better process than having a judge or a jury decide these matters," Michael Joblove said. About 500 residents filed claims with the city mediation panel before it was disbanded. The panel had been given the role of helping residents reach agreements with developers for necessary repairs. Good Government chairman Peter Yellin has said that the mediation process favored developers.

But mediation board chairman Carl Schecter disagreed, saying the lawsuit derailed progress. The board had settled several cases, mostly by getting the developer and homeowner to agree to repairs in lieu of cash payments, Schecter said. But most complaints remain unresolved. "Sometimes the system works and sometimes it doesn't. This is clearly a case of it not working," said Howard Pixley, whose $12,000 claim is among the unresolved cases. It was in November that a city inspector determined that blasting damaged Goldberg's home in the SilverLakes development.

But negotiations over how Goldberg was to be compensated broke down in March, shortly after the lawsuit was filed.